Desperate Decisions
by EbonyVergil
Summary: Someone important to Beast Boy was killed.  He goes to confront the murderer, but finds closure won't be easy to achieve.  Final Chapter is up.
1. Chapter 1

It was just a castle.

Or so It looked on the outside anyway. Inside this castle however, was technology that was far beyond modern. Surveillance cameras and motion sensors littered it's stone halls. Making any intruder think twice about their actions. A communications center capable of reaching anyone on the entire planet. Not to mention the various modern comforts that every other normal household would have. The castle was a perfect blend of old and new.

The current intruder however, was not concerned with this, far from it in fact. He was not here to pillage or plunder. He was here to find one man, not just any man, but a man he had thought of as his father. He didn't think of him as that anymore though. All the intruder thought of the man now was that he was a monster. Which is ironic as the intruder's skin was green from head to toe and he had the ability to turn into any animal he could think of.

And yet, the crime his adopted father committed, was far beyond any cruelty any of his animal forms could muster. He could smell his adopted father's scent, it was getting stronger as he progressed further into the castle, the headquarters for his old team, the Doom Patrol. Uncharacteristically he had ruthlessly tracked down his "father". The leader of the Doom Patrol, who had been missing for almost a week. The green boy found it odd that his father decided to hide at Doom Patrol HQ. It was one of the obvious places to stop by and search.

However, it also seemed fitting. Like the final stage had been set.

The green boy known as Beast Boy to most, and Garfield Mark Logan to some, charged through a pair of thick steel double doors as an emerald bull. The doors put up almost no resistance as they broke off their hinges and flew in the air to land in the center of the Doom Patrol's operations room. A circular table rested in the left-center of the room. While the communications center was embedded into the right side of the room. Straight ahead of the changeling was the huge monitor that would pull up maps, information on villains, alert the residents of a domestic attack and much more. It was here that Beast Boy's adopted father, Steve Dayton, A.K.A. Mento stood, his back to his adopted son.

Mento's stance was rigid, his legs slightly spread and his arms were locked behind his back. He hadn't made a move, not even when Beast Boy broke the doors down. The changeling noted this and felt the anger inside him that he was trying so hard to control get away from him slightly. As he morphed back into his human form, Mento spoke.

"So you made it." The leader of the Doom Patrol said simply, Beast Boy grit his teeth to curb his rage.

"Is that all you have to say Steve? after what you did to her?" He hissed through his closed teeth. Mento half-turned so that he was partially facing his adopted son.

"It's what she would have wanted." Mento replied in that no-nonsense tone of his. But Beast Boy was not going to put up with it, not after what happened to her. His hands curled into tight fists.

"You have no right to speak for her! Do you hear me? NO RIGHT!" Beast Boy screamed, the tentative control he had on his temper shattered and he leapt into the air at Mento. Quickly in midair, the green boy morphed into a lion and dived at his father. The Doom Patrol leader managed to roll out of the way at the last second. The changeling didn't even break stride, morphing into a baboon and once again leaping at Mento. This time, he was successful and tackled the veteran doom patroller to the ground. He wrapped his primate fingers around Mento's neck and began to squeeze. Mento saw stars and the edge of his vision began to blacken before he was able to knock Beast Boy away from him with a pulse of mental energy.

Mento continued to keep Beast Boy at a distance as he threw the circular table, along with it's furniture, at the changeling to keep him away. Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah and outran or dodged all the debris Mento was sending his way. The veteran doom patroller tried again to speak with his adopted son.

"I did what I had to do Garfield, it was for her own good!" He shouted at the changeling, as he tried to bring a slab of stone from the ceiling onto Beast Boy's head. Mento hoped to knock him out, but Beast Boy's reaction was solid, morphing into a bat and flying away from the stone slab before it could hit him. The green boy reverted back to normal and fixed Mento with a fiery glare.

"Don't you dare talk to ME about what was for her own good! since you were the one that murdered HER!" Beast Boy shouted, once again lapsing into rage. He morphed into a sasquatch and grabbed the huge monitor that covered the wall. He threw it at his father with every ounce of hatred he could muster. Mento managed to halt it's acceleration with his mental powers just inches from his face and sent it flying right back at the green sasquatch. Beast Boy lifted both his heavy arms and interlaced his fingers. He smashed his combined fists into the monitor as it flew toward him, breaking it in half. The next instant he morphed into a ram and slammed into Mento's chest, slamming the militaristic leader into the stone wall.

Mento sank to an unorthodox sitting position against the stone wall. He thought he might have broken a rib or two, but had no time to check as a very angry green ape was in his face. The ape raised it's right fist and was about to bring it down on Mento's head. Mento dug deep into his mental reserves and blasted the ape away with a burst of mental energy. The blast sent the ape flying all the way to the opposite end of the room. Depositing him unceremoniously into the wall opposite of Mento.

The ape bounced off the wall and landed on the ground, morphing back into Beast Boy. The changeling rose to a kneeling position and put his right hand against the wall to support himself. Mento was still leaning against his wall, holding his aching ribs with his left arm. Both combatants were panting slightly from their exertions.

"You've never had to make the tough decision as a leader Garfield. The decision no one else wants to make, to even think about." Mento breathed out between pants, Beast Boy glared at him.

"You're wrong Steve. I have made tough decisions before, when I had to lead the remaining Titans against the Brotherhood of Evil. My first instinct was to run, run as far and as fast as I could." Using the wall, Beast Boy rose shakily to his feet, his eyes never leaving Mento's. "But I didn't, instead I took a group of unlikely Titans and managed to stop the Brotherhood for good. It was hard for me, to face my fear and make that difficult decision, but I did it. So don't go and tell me that I haven't made tough decisions!" He shouted.

Mento felt a twinge of sadness flow through him. Indeed Beast Boy had made tough decisions, but this was different. This type of thing he was sure his adopted son had no experience in.

"There are different kinds of 'tough' Garfield." Mento said, his normally rough tone a touch softer. "What I did, I didn't do out of callousness or malice. I didn't murder her." Beast boy's glare intensified.

"Really? because the dead body at the morgue says otherwise you bastard!" The changeling shouted and with that he morphed into a velociraptor and charged at Mento once more. The Doom Patrol leader had also managed to get to his feet, but he still clutched his ribs with his left arm. He tore off a section of the wall with his powers and flung it at the raptor's right flank. Beast Boy avoided it by morphing into a hummingbird, the chunk of stone passed by right under him. He continued his charge toward his former leader.

Mento grabbed two more large sections of wall with his powers and put them in front of him. Putting one wall in front of the other, he made a barricade that he hoped would keep the changeling away from him for a bit. His hopes were dashed when a green triceratops smashed through his makeshift barricade like it wasn't even there. Summoning all his mental strength, Mento managed to keep the mighty triceratops at bay. Although the strain of restraining such a big and heavy beast was quickly taking it's toll on him.

"Damn it Garfield! listen to me! you don't understand! I didn't kill her! I just..." The rest of Mento's words never finished as the giant tail of a jade anklyosaurus slammed into his torso. The impact sent him crashing through the wall and past the cliff the Doom Patrol HQ was built on. The militaristic leader began to plummet down into the woods below.

Beast Boy had reverted to his normal form and ran over to the hole he had put Mento through. He had expected to see his former leader's broken form as it fell into the forest several hundred feet below. What he saw however was Mento hanging on to a floating rock. He growled deep in his throat, leave it to Mento to not die easily. He would still die, however, for what he did. He was still having a hard time believing Mento actually killed her. His adopted father had indeed committed the heinous act however. The evidence was there and it was verified by Robin, who was trained by the world's greatest detective. You can't refute something like that.

The Doom Patrol leader struggled to climb on top of the boulder he had ripped out of the cliffside with his powers. He had wrenched his right shoulder out of socket when he had grabbed onto the rock as he brought it up to him from below just a little too fast. Feeding off his adrenaline, Mento finally managed to climb on top of the floating boulder. His relief was short-lived as a grass colored tiger leapt down the cliff from above him. Claws ready to rend his flesh and tear him in two. Quickly Mento ripped another boulder out of the cliffside and slammed it into the side of Beast Boy's head. The tiger let out a roar of pain as it fell rapidly into the forest below. Mento followed suit at a much slower pace, on top of his floating rock.

The green tiger morphed into a flying squirrel and hastily killed the rest of it's descending speed. Landing on one of the many tree branches, the squirrel morphed back into a green human. Beast Boy looked up into the sky to see his "father" floating down towards him on his rock. The image briefly reminded him of Terra, but he quickly shook that thought out of his head. He was too emotionally charged as it was already, he didn't need more of it.

The changeling noticed that Mento's head was moving from side to side, as if searching. The emerald skinned boy smirked, Mento had lost sight of him during his fall and was searching for him in the forest. The near-tyrannical leader was keeping an altitude high enough above the trees to give him time to prepare for most of the changeling's flying forms.

Most, but not all.

Doing something that was very hard for him. Beast Boy morphed into a tiny spider and waited. Eventually Mento was hovering right above him. The leader of the Doom Patrol was moving slowly through the air to systematically scan for the green boy. His slow flight speed would be his undoing. The changeling morphed into a fly and flew up to Mento's floating rock, slowly but surely.

As soon as Beast Boy reached the boulder in fly form, he morphed into a grizzly bear. Mento had just enough time to turn around, his eyes wide, like a deer in the headlights. Then Beast Boy was upon him, tackling him. He pinned Mento to the rock by his shoulders, digging his sharp claws into them and drawing blood. Mento grunted in pain, and Beast Boy went in for the kill, his jaws reaching for Mento's neck.

Steve Dayton knew he was in trouble, the green bear's jaws were just a few inches from his neck and getting closer by the second. In desperation, he used his powers to turn the rock they were floating on upside-down. The rock deposited it's passengers into the open air. Gravity forced the green bear's claws to remove themselves from Steve's shoulders, blood flowing from them, his blood. The veteran Doom Patroller knew that he couldn't continue this fight for much longer. He had to end this now.

Summoning the last of his power, he caught the boulder that was still in the air and flung it at the changeling. The boulder sung through the air like a missile and hit the green bear square in it's furry chest. The impact of the rock sent the bear into the ground at breakneck speed. As Beast Boy crashed into the ground, a huge plume of dust, dirt and debris shot into the air. Mento tried in vain to use whatever mental power he had to slow his descent. It wasn't enough however and he crashed into the ground almost as hard as his adopted son.

Their crashes had sent both of them into unconsciousness. For a few long moments, everything was quiet and still. The dust clouds the two combatants and stirred up eventually dissipated into the air. Suddenly a pair of eyes opened on one of the two downed superheroes.

A pair of green eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Pain permeated Beast Boy's entire being as he slowly opened his eyes to blurry vision. As it cleared, his eyes drank in the clear blue sky and the setting sun. It was quite the tranquil scene, in direct contrast to his current mood. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest as he turned over so he was lying face down on the ground. After a moment of searching his eyes found what they were looking for.

Lying a short distance away was Mento, the older man was just now regaining consciousness. He was lying face up and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times and then started to look around. He stopped when he made eye contact with Beast Boy. Immediately the changeling tried to rise to his feet, but a sharp pain in his torso caused him to face plant back into the ground. Likewise, Mento also tried to get up, but he found he was in even worse shape. None of his limbs wanted to respond to his mental commands. The green teenager hissed in pain and frustration, before his shoulders finally sagged as his anger was replaced with sorrow. Mento could only continue to watch his adopted son.

"Why?" Beast Boy asked, his voice quiet, subdued. Mento remained silent, it was a simple question with a not so simple answer. "Why did you do it Steve?" He asked again, his hands curling and uncurling as he struggled internally. This was the question that Garfield had wanted to ask when he first saw Mento inside the Doom Patrol HQ earlier. His anger and Mento's indifference to the situation quickly pushed the question out of his mind however. In exchange for a much more violent approach.

Mento stared at his adopted son, even despite all that just transpired between the two he didn't hate him. He understood why Beast Boy was so angry at him. Why he had tried to kill him. The grief over her loss was almost unbearable. He at least owed the emerald teen an explanation for his actions.

"I couldn't stand to watch her suffer." He answered. Beast Boy's eyes closed and he shuddered, remembering how frail she looked in her last days. "There was no cure in sight. The closest thing was what your parents did for you. Their knowledge of the Sakutia virus and how to treat it died with them though." He continued. Beast Boy was now completely still, his head was bowed and his hands were curled into tight fists and visibly shaking. Mento felt a lump catch in his throat. Memories he did not want to recall began to spring back to the surface in his mind.

"Watching her like that. It was just too much for me to bear. Her life had become nothing more than a curse of pain. With no hope of her ever getting better. I decided...that I needed to end her suffering." The older man finished. Beast Boy's entire body was shaking now. Mento sighed quietly, it looked like the younger man finally understood why Mento did what he did.

"You bastard."

The words were spoken so quietly that at first Mento was unsure that he had even heard them. "You lousy son of a bitch." That one was a bit louder, it had come from the changeling. "You impatient bastard! why the hell didn't you wait!" Beast Boy screamed these words out. A malicious glare emanated from his emerald eyes. Mento felt anger bubble to the surface, he glared right back.

"Wait for what Garfield? for her to continue to suffer? to continue to have seizures and thrive in agony!" He yelled back. Beast Boy managed to get to his knees.

"She was supposed to live for at least another week!"

"Another week filled with needles and drugs! That's no way to spend your last days living!"

"It gave us more time to find a cure!"

"There is no cure! don't you get it! there was never going to be a cure. Not in time for her!"

"Damn it Steve! we DID find a cure!"

That stopped Mento in his tracks. His adopted son was notoriously known as a jokester, but there was no joke in his facial expression. The color drained from the face of the veteran Doom Patroller as he struggled to formulate a verbal response.

"W-what?" he managed to sputter out in his shock. Tears were beginning to form in Beast Boy's eyes but he managed to keep them in check.

"We managed to find my parents' research on the Sakutia virus and STAR Labs was able to use the notes to create a cure." A vein was throbbing on the jade teenager's forehead as he made a monumental effort to keep calm. "We were going to administer it, only to find her dead. Robin found out that she was killed by an aneurysm, one that was not natural..." Beast Boy closed his eyes and slammed his fist into the ground. "We had it all figured out, we were going to cure her of the Sakutia and everything would go back to the way it was! everything was going to be okay and you FUCKING RUINED IT!" The changeling howled in rage and slammed both his fists into the ground. Chunks of dirt and other debris, flew up in the air from where his fists impacted.

"All you had to do was wait one more day, one more day you rotten bastard! and she would have been fine! she would have been here with us now! she would have been safe, everyone would have been so happy!" The younger man pointed a finger accusingly at the elder. Mento was horrified, his mind having difficulty wrapping itself around the idea that she could have been saved. "But you just had to go and make the 'tough decision' didn't you? Well I hope your proud of yourself now!" Beast Boy stopped suddenly and began coughing. flecks of blood began to stain the dirt and grass as he continued his coughing fit. His outbursts combined with his internal injuries were taking their toll on his body.

Mento opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find words to say, and finding none. He had made the worst decision of his life. What was worse was that he had given up hope. Now his choice to give up had cost the life of another, of someone important to him. He felt something wet slide down his face and knew they were his tears.

"Well since you made the choice to end her life..." The changeling started, rubbing the blood away from his chin with his left hand. "I've made the choice to end yours." the tone of his voice could have frozen Hell itself. With that he morphed into his most powerful and potentially unstable form, the Beast.

The emerald humanoid roared to the heavens before it started making it's way to Mento. It stretched it's right hand in front of it's face, showing it's very sharp claws to the Doom Patrol leader. Mento closed his eyes, there was nothing he could do. His body was too battered and broken to even defend himself. Not that he even wanted to, he deserved this for his rash decision-making.

Suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere in front of the Beast. This wasn't just any figure, this one was female, short and petite. Sporting a dark blue cloak, with a hood that covered most of her face. Despite having a towering green Beast in front of her with the strength to shred concrete like paper. Her stoic expression never wavered from her face. The Beast recognized her instantly.

It was Raven.


	3. Chapter 3

The dark Titan stared stoically at the giant green beast in front of her. Once Robin had figured out that Beast Boy intended to extract revenge from Mento for Elasti-girl's death. She had raced ahead in an effort to stop him. Although on the outside she wore an expression of impassiveness, inwardly her mind was racing. The fact that the Beast wasn't trying to rip her apart was a good sign. It wasn't good enough though, she needed to capitalize on it's indecisiveness.

"You need to stop Beast Boy." She said in her signature monotone. The emerald beast growled in response. She tensed, readying herself for an attack, but the Beast just continued to stand there. The green humanoid's lips were peeled back in a snarl, but otherwise it was not making any moves. That was a good sign.

"I know you're in there Garfield. I know it hurts, I've experienced the same pain of loss. That's why I know killing Mento is not the answer." She continued, for a long moment the hulking green were-wolf-lookalike didn't move a muscle. Then slowly, very slowly it lowered it's raised right hand to rest at it's side. Raven inwardly sighed in relief.

Then the Beast howled.

The dark girl immediately levitated away from the jade-colored humanoid. The green monstrosity's howl wasn't one of rage though it was pain. Curious, she looked back at the emerald predator, noticing a trail of black energy leaving the Beast's chest. Looking upwards into the sky she followed the black energy trail which led to a humanoid that seemed to entirely be constructed by the black energy. She recognized it quickly, the Negative Man. His energy form was retreating from the Beast, no doubt to rejoin with it's physical body. The sound of metal impacting flesh brought Raven's attention back to the Beast. A gold covered fist had just struck it on it's right cheek, sending it sliding across the ground. The cloaked Titan let out a curse, the rest of the Doom Patrol had arrived, this was the last thing she needed.

"Stop it! you're only making things worse!" She called out to Robot Man, the one who had just hit the Beast. The golden robot turned to face her.

"How about a little gratitude girlie? We just saved you from becoming mincemeat there." the mechanical doom patroller replied, crossing his arms in front of him. Moments later a man that strongly resembled a mummy wearing the purple and black of a doom patrol uniform ran up to his teammate. Raven scowled.

"He wasn't going to hurt me. He was about to calm down when you two showed up. Does the Doom Patrol always strike first and ask questions later?" The dark girl said with a hint of annoyance. A loud roar from the Beast silenced the argument. Negative Man turned towards the source of the roar then back to Raven.

"You sure about calming him down?" He asked with enough sarcasm to drown a small country. Raven spared him an annoyed glance before retreating. Negative Man likewise pulled back, trying to find a safe spot for his body so he could use his astral form. Robot Man did the opposite, charging the Beast full speed. The robotic doom patroller's mechanical hands met the green giant's fleshy ones. Each one tried to push the other back to get an advantage.

"The green bean sure is strong in this form! what the heck form is this anyway? Were-bear? Were-wolf? Were-boar?" Robot man asked, his voice strained from his mechanical exertions. Raven levitated into the air behind him.

"Yea, something like that. He's a lot stronger in that form, and unfortunately more feral as well." Raven answered. She was about to use her powers to separate the two battling heroes when Negative Man's astral form zoomed past her.

"Keep him right there Cliff, I'll take him out." the astral form spoke, extending it's hands in front of it. A blast of black energy fired from the astral form's hands, rocketing towards the emerald Titan. The Beast saw the incoming energy blast, reacting quickly, it ceased struggling with Robot Man and actually pulled him toward itself. The sudden shift caught the golden robot by surprise and he stumbled forward, right into the energy blast's path. The blast caught Robot Man square in the back and he grunted in pain. Negative Man cursed as he tried to readjust his aim.

Taking advantage of his hurt opponent, the Beast kicked the mechanical doom patroller in the chest. The impact sent him flying through the sky. Raven quickly used her powers to try and catch Robot Man. However the force of the kick was too great, and the dark Titan could only slow his descent into the unforgiving ground. With his teammate now out of the line of fire, Negative Man opened up with another energy blast. The jade giant nimbly leapt backwards to dodge it, then turned around and started running away from the mummified doom patroller's astral form. Narrowly it outran another black energy blast, heading for a nearby tree.

Tired of playing target practice with the Beast. Negative Man decided to just fly down and phase through it again. Whenever he phased through something alive, it caused them terrible pain. The mummified doom patroller was sure that the extreme amount of pain would cause the Beast to lose consciousness and flew towards the green humanoid. The Beast saw him coming and used it's razor sharp claws to cut down one of the trees. It was a relatively small tree, about forty feet high. The Beast wrapped it's arms around it's trunk and lifted it like it was a twig. Negative Man smirked inwardly, the green werebeast must not be aware that the tree would just phase through him.

The emerald titan hefted the tree and flung it at Negative Man like a spear. As expected, the tree flew right through the mummified doom patroller's astral form. Had he been flesh and blood, the tree would have impaled and definitely killed him. Negative Man in his astral form spared a glance backwards, admiring the distance of the throw.

"Not bad kid, but you're gonna have to..." He stopped mid-sentence and if his astral form had eyes, they would have widened to the size of saucers at that moment. Too late he realized that the tree was not meant for his astral body, but his real one. Fortunately for him, Raven had realized the Beast's intentions and had already brought her hands forth. Her hands began to glow black as she summoned a large amount of her power.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted, forming a wall of obsidian energy in front of Negative Man's physical body. Half a second later the tree slammed against the energy wall, it fell harmlessly to the ground a second later. Three seconds after that Negative Man returned to his physical body. His mummifed face turned towards the direction of the sorceress.

"Nice save." He said to her, she acknowledged the compliment with a quick nod before turning her attention toward her feral green teammate. The Beast made eye contact with her, a low growl in it's throat, the tension in the air was thick. Raven's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think of a way to stop the Beast with minimal damage to everyone. Attacking Beast Boy in this state was not wise, not only would it increase his aggression, but he could easily tire them out. Not to mention the fact that the Beast was more cunning than it let on.

Running was also not a wise option, while Beast Boy's attention was fixed on them at the moment. That would quickly change if they ran off, which would mean that Garfield would go back to his original plan of killing Mento. While the Doom Patrol leader was tough, the green bean had done quite a number on him. He was currently unconscious, all his wounds finally taking their toll. She was going to have to try and stall her teammate. Stall him long enough for the rest of the Titans to show up. Maybe then they'd have enough firepower to stop him.

The Beast started to advance slowly toward her, Negative Man was about to use his astral form again but Raven held out her hand, gesturing for him to stop. She turned back toward her feral teammate.

"Stop this Beast Boy." She called out in her monotone. The green were-beast's response was a low snarl as it continued to advance towards her. Raven's expression softened slightly. "Please, I know you don't want to do this."

Seeing the dark girl's pained face caused the feral Titan to pause. Then it's expression hardened and it charged forward. The emerald giant however, was not headed in Raven's direction. It was headed for Mento's downed form. The dark Titan cursed at herself for being caught off-guard. She stretched her arms forward, hands glowing with dark energy. Quickly chanting her mantra, she summoned a giant claw of dark energy from the ground to try and grab the Beast from beneath. The jade humanoid nimbly sidestepped to it's left and continued to close the distance toward it's prey.

Raven snarled and tried again, this time the Beast sidestepped to it's right. A vein started pulsing on the dark girl's forehead. Summoning even more of her power, she created a much larger claw than the previous ones. This giant claw erupted from the ground like a geyser. With cat-like reflexes the green furred were-beast leapt straight into the air. Just barely clearing the giant claw's reach as it closed into a fist. Raven's eye's widened at the superhuman display, then narrowed in concentration. The Beast was less than sixty feet away from Mento and closing fast. There was only one option left.

The jade-colored were-beast was almost in range to attack the unconscious Mento. However, a circle of dark energy appeared before the Beast's prey. Raven rose up from the circle, a determined look on her face. She planted her feet and spread her arms wide. The were-animal realized that she was not going to move out of the way. Growling in frustration the Beast dug it's claws into the ground as hard as it could to kill it's forward momentum. It was able to stop less than a foot away from the dark girl.

It quickly made it's frustration with the dark Titan known by putting it's face just inches away from Raven's, baring it's teeth, then roaring as loud as it could. Raven tried not to smell her feral teammate's breath as it wafted by her. If she was in a less dangerous situation, much less, she'd find it humorous that a beast's breath smelled of tofu. The green giant glared daggers at it's dark teammate, but Raven glared right back. For a long tense moment, they stayed like that. Finally with a snarl the Beast leapt back and began pacing.

"You can freak out all you want Beast Boy. As your friend, I'm not going to let you do something dumb and commit murder. So you're just going to have to deal with it." Raven announced. Her feral teammate snarled in response and began to pace faster. Suddenly he stopped, crouched low to the ground as if to pounce. Raven readied herself, but instead of leaping at her, the Beast just suddenly disappeared. The dark Titan blinked, it was as if the Beast just blurred out of existence.

Suddenly a gust of air hit Raven from behind, it wasn't a strong wind, but it carried the unmistakeable scent of tofu. Violet eyes widened in realization and she turned around just in time to see the Beast lunging for Mento. Quickly Raven covered the unconscious Doom Patrol leader in her cloak and phased them through the ground. Green claws impaling the ground where Mento was just moments before. Raven and the not-conscious Mento reappeared next to Negative Man soon after.

"Good moves kid, but we can't keep evading him forever, got any other ideas?" The mummifed doom patroller asked.

"I'm working on it." was the dark girl's response. She felt a sting on the right side of her face, dabbing her cheek with her hand, she found blood. Beast Boy must have scratched her before she was able to teleport Mento and her to safety. She was starting to get worried, this was the longest time Beast Boy has gone as the Beast after being given the antidote over a year ago. It looks like Beast Boy's personality was gradually being repressed by the Beast's primal one. She couldn't guarantee that her bond with him would protect her from his next attack.

"I hate to be a downer, but could you work on it a little harder? Garfield doesn't look very patient at the moment." Negative Man deadpanned, though Raven could detect a hint of desperation in his tone. His observation was spot on though, the Beast was already charging at them. The dark Titan cursed, she was out of time.

"Get ready." she told Negative Man, her hands glowing in dark energy. Negative Man prepared to use his astral form, and Raven was about to chant her mantra. Suddenly a golden blur flew past them, crashing into the green blur that was coming toward them. When both blurs settled into humanoid forms, Negative Man and Raven saw the inside of Robot Man's right forearm buried in the Beast's neck. The golden robot then swung his arm forward with all his might, completing a powerful lariat that sent the Beast crashing backwards.

"What took you so long Cliff? enjoying the scenery?" Negative Man teased. His robotic teammate snorted in response.

"Yeah it was great Larry, lots of trees and no smart ass mummies." Robot Man replied. Before the banter could continue, a roar of rage was heard. The Beast was on all fours, rushing at them yet again. Robot Man got into a fighting stance, readying himself for the green animal's attack. Normally he'd be a lot more aggressive, but the blast he took from Negative Man unintentionally had damaged the back part of his robotic body. If Garfield in his monster form managed to penetrate his armor and get to his heart, it was all over.

All of a sudden a voice cut through the air. It was a young voice, but full of authority, like it was used to being in charge. When Raven heard that voice it was like music to her ears.

"Titans! Go!" the voice of Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, shouted.

Starfire was the first of the arriving Titans to make her move. Using her eyebeams to cut a path in front of the Beast, halting it's charge. Next came Robin, who leapt into the air, flipped, and landed a perfect flying kick right on the Beast's snout. The impact jerked the emerald monstrosity's face to it's left. As Robin landed near the Beast's left side, he brought out his staff and swung it in a half-circle, the swing ending at the Beast's gut. The big jade beast doubled over, grunting in pain.

"Cyborg! NOW!" Robin ordered. From behind the Beast, Cyborg ran up and fired a cable from his left forearm compartment. The cable wrapped around the Beast's torso and trapped it's arms to it's sides. The hulking monstrosity tried to break free from the cable, but was unable to for now. Still, it was managing to walk, albeit slowly, towards Raven and the others. Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask. He quickly assessed the situation. After analyzing the scene for a handful of seconds he turned to Raven.

"Raven, use your soul self to enter Beast Boy's mind!" He shouted to his dark teammate, she looked towards him with a shocked expression.

"Are you sure that's the best way Robin? I don't want to invade his mind like that if there's another solution." The dark girl replied, Robin shook his head as he watched Starfire grip the Beast's shoulders and try to push him back. She pleaded with her green friend to come to his senses, but the Beast just growled at her. Cyborg had dug in his metallic heels and was pulling for all he was worth. Even with Starfire adding her alien strength, the Beast was still making slow progress towards Mento. The Titans leader turned back towards Raven.

"There isn't another solution, at least not another peaceful one. The alternative is to bring Beast Boy down...hard." The boy wonder said grimly. Raven detected the tone and winced. She got into her lotus position.

"Alright. I'll do it. Just hold him tight for a few more seconds." She told him. Robin nodded and fired one of his grappling hooks around the Beast and added his strength in binding the green creature. Raven chanted her mantra and an instant later her soul self jumped from her physical body and flew into the Beast's. The giant green were-animal tensed up then fell to it's knees. But it's struggles ceased. Still, the Titans were not taking any chances and kept the cables wrapped around it.

"Good luck Raven." Robin said out loud. Eyeing the now comatose Beast warily.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I hope the story has been entertaining those who have read it so far. Feel free to drop some reviews(Thanks Alexpv22 for the review btw.) and let me know if you enjoy it. It would be greatly appreciated.**

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><p>Pale goldish white light as far as the eye could see, that's what Raven saw. She floated weightlessly on it. She had to admit, this was different than what she was expecting of Beast Boy's mind. He was nowhere in sight, the dark girl sighed, of course that would make it too easy.<p>

She felt a tug, similar to gravity, begin to pull her slowly downwards. Not sensing any danger at the moment. Raven let herself be pulled further down. As she descended she started to see floating monitors begin to pepper the pale goldish background. Looking in one she saw a younger Beast Boy, his head bowed. In front of him was the Doom Patrol, including Rita Farr A.K.A. Elasti-Girl.

As Raven examined the monitor, she watched as the Doom Patrol discussed what to do with the young Beast Boy. Mento was going to send him to jail for breaking into their HQ, Despite Robot Man and Negative Man's protests. However, Elasti-Girl managed to convince him not to. Instead on Rita's suggestion, Beast Boy joined the Doom Patrol.

The dark Titan looked at the monitors curiously. They must be Beast Boy's memories. Upon closer examination she noticed that most of them had Elasti-Girl in it in some form or another. She watched another monitor where Elasti-Girl was reading the young Beast Boy a bedtime story. Though Raven would never admit it out loud, it was quite touching.

A small speck of green in the distance got the dark girl's attention. The pull she was feeling was dragging her closer to it. As the speck grew larger as she grew near, she confirmed it was Beast Boy.

Like her, he was floating slowly downwards. Unlike her, he was facing the "Sky". His arms and legs were spread and limp, as if he was in free fall. The most alarming thing to Raven though were his eyes, there was no glow to them, barely a sign of life. The eyes were fixed on a monitor that was right in front of him. She couldn't get a good look at what was on it as she was still behind it. Currently it was holding the green Titan's attention though.

"Gar." Raven called out to him, slowly she saw his eyes move from the monitor to her. There were circles under his eyes and he seemed a paler shade of green than usual.

"So it's you Raven." He said quietly.

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><p>"What did she do?" Robot Man asked. Looking at the comatose Beast like it was going to get back up and strike at any moment. The Titans still had it bound.<p>

"She projected her soul into Beast Boy's mind." Robin explained. Negative Man put a hand on his chin, seemingly in deep thought.

"So it's kind of like what I do huh?" The mummified Doom Patroller mused, Robin shook his head slightly.

"Yes and no, while your astral form causes great pain when you phase through living things. Hers does not, instead, she can use it to enter minds, travel dimensions, and other stuff we haven't explored yet." the boy wonder clarified. Robot Man crossed his arms.

"So what's she doing in the green bean's mind exactly? trying to calm him down?" The mechanical doom patroller asked.

"Yeah, she's trying to get our favorite grass stain to get control back from this thing." Cyborg confirmed. The robot-human hybrid eyed the screen on his right forearm, which was monitoring the Beast's vitals. "No changes yet." he reported. Robin acknowledged it with a nod.

"But, what if she can not?" Starfire asked, Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask.

"She will." He said. With such confidence that his teammates almost believed him.

Almost.

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><p>"Come on." Raven said, holding her hand out to Beast Boy. "It's time to get out of here." The changeling made no move to grab her hand. Instead his gaze shifted to another monitor near him.<p>

"Aren't they pleasant memories?" He asked her. She was taken aback slightly by his reply. Taking another look around at the monitors floating around her, they were indeed pleasant memories, happy memories, of Garfield's time with Rita. "Thanks to Mento, I'll never have another pleasant memory with her again." the green teenager scowled slightly.

"I'm not condoning what Mento did Garfield, but he loved Elasti-Girl as well. He killed her to stop her pain." Raven told him.

"I know. Mento told me when we fought, and I believe him. But now..." Beast Boy trailed off, he closed his eyes. "...Now I got all this anger and hatred and nothing to focus it on." By this point, Raven had floated right next to Beast Boy. She turned so she was facing the same direction he was. Finally she was able to see what was on the monitor that he was looking at when she first saw him.

It was Elasti-Girl lying dead in her hospital bed. Raven's eyes widened betraying her surprise. Beast Boy turned his head to look at her.

"This is what I keep seeing Raven. Her lifeless body, at first all I could think of was finding Mento and making him pay. But now, even that doesn't feel exactly right. I don't know what to do." He confided. Raven turned and made eye contact with him.

"It's natural to feel lost at something like this. It's natural to mourn and place blame irrationally. I wish you had the luxury to continue doing it right now, but..." Raven hesitated, Beast Boy was in a lot of pain right now. Asking him to put it aside in order to regain control of his physical self might reignite his anger or worse, get him more depressed. "...Your primal self has been having it's way while you've been here. You need to stop it."

The changeling turned to look at the monitors again, stopping at the one with the dead Elasti-Girl last, then he closed his eyes again.

"I don't know if I can, my body feels so heavy." Beast Boy told her. In reply, Raven floated so that she was facing Beast Boy and floating above him. They stared at each other for a few moments, before Raven once again extended her hand.

"Then let me help you." she said gently. Beast Boy was surprised by the sudden gentleness in her voice, but he quickly recovered and smiled, taking her hand.

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><p>"Yo Robin! I got major brain activity coming from BB!" Cyborg announced, the sudden frequent beeping from Cyborg's forearm computer adding weight to the announcement. Robin and the other Titan's tensed, readying themselves for the worst, but hoping for the best.<p>

"If the Beast is still in control when it wakes up, use any means necessary to take it down." Robin ordered. Starfire and Cyborg both nodded. The remaining Doom Patrol members also prepared themselves.

Just then, Raven's soul self shot out of the Beast like a bullet. Flying back to it's physical body. Now back in her own body, Raven dropped from her lotus position and stood up. Her gaze rested on the Beast waiting expectantly.

To the Titan's relief, the Beast began to shrink until the familiar lean form of their green teammate was revealed. Starfire squealed in joy and gave the green teenager a big hug.

"Oh glorious Beast Boy! You are normal again and mostly undamaged!" She proclaimed, still hugging him, until a green glove grabbed her right shoulder.

"Uh Star, you might want to release the hug or he's going to go from mostly undamaged to severely." Robin told his alien teammate, a playful smile on his face. Starfire blushed and released Beast Boy. The green Titan reclined on his haunches, resting his arms on his raised knees.

"Dude, it feels like I ran like ten miles or more." Beast Boy told them, Cyborg was behind him scanning his green friend with his cybernetic eye. Checking his physical status.

"You can thank the Beast for that, while transforming into that form, it accelerated your body's natural healing greatly. It also burns up energy at a much faster rate. A few more minutes in that form and you probably wouldn't have had the strength to lift even a finger." The cybernetic teen told the changeling. Robin stepped forward and held out his hand. Beast Boy smiled slightly and took it, letting the boy wonder pull him to his feet.

"You okay now?" he asked the green teenager, who smiled slightly.

"Yeah, exhausted, but I'm familiar with that feeling thanks to all your training." Beast Boy replied, it was Robin's turn to smile.

"Pays off though doesn't it?" he asked, Beast Boy chuckled.

"It so does, chicks dig the toned body." the changeling said. The sound of a clearing throat cut through the two teenagers' banter. Raven walked up to the group, her usual stoic expression on her face.

"Annnyways." She drawled, turning to Beast Boy and breaking her stoic mask with a slight smile. "It's good to have you back Beast Boy." The green Titan smiled back at his dark teammate.

"Couldn't have done it without ya Raven." He said, winking at her. Raven's smile grew into a smirk. At that moment Robot Man walked up to the changeling and slapped him hard on the back, causing him to stumble forward a step and yelp in pain.

"Geez Cliff! you trying to break my spine? I think Star's hug was more gentle!" he shouted at the golden skinned robot. who's response was to chuckle.

"Yep, your definitely back green bean." He beamed, patting him on the head. Beast Boy just had an annoyed look on his face.

"Sorry to be a downer guys, but uh, we need to deal with Mento." Negative Man announced, pointing to the still downed Doom Patrol Leader. Everyone's jovial mood quickly turned somber.

"He's right." Robin announced. "Mento has committed murder and has to be brought to justice. Question is, what jail do we send him to?" the boy wonder asked the assembled crowd.

"Why not the jail we have at our home?" Starfire asked, "Are they not used to holding meta-humans?"

"I say Arkham." Cyborg chimed in. "Any place that can hold the Joker for a period of time is alright in my book."

"Mento made a bad decision. A reallllly bad decision." Raven spoke up. "That doesn't mean he's criminally insane Cyborg." The cybernetic teen nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah I guess your right." he agreed.

"The way I see it..." Robot Man was the next to speak, "Steve's done a lot for the world, maybe he should..."

"Are you seriously suggesting that he gets a pardon Cliff?" Negative Man interrupted his teammate with a surprising amount of emotion. "He killed Rita! that in my book is unforgivable. I don't want him dead, but he has to pay the price for what he did." Robot Man's face turned into a scowl as he faced his teammate.

"You think I forgot what he did to Rita Larry? I don't like it any better than you do. But Steve has done a lot of good for the world, surely that has to mean something!" The mummified Doom Patrol member responded by clenching his bandaged hands into fists.

"No one should be exempt from murdering the one they love and supposed to protect." Negative Man stated, anger bleeding into his normally calm voice.

The group continued to argue about what to do with Mento. Throughout it all, Beast Boy remained silent. He was deep in thought, now that he was thinking more rationally, he was wondering himself on how he wanted Mento to pay for his crime. Taking his life was sorely tempting, but it wasn't the right way. He agreed with Negative Man that Steve should not get a full pardon under any circumstances. Robot Man had a point though, Mento had done a lot of good for the world, stopping the Brotherhood of Evil multiple times. He has saved countless lives, so what punishment do you give a superhero who made a terrible decision out of desperation?

"Listen to me everyone." A new voice cut through the debate, silencing everyone. They turned towards the source of the voice to find a now conscious Mento. He was leaning against a tree trunk in a sitting position. His face was sunken and his shoulders sagged, his spirit had been drained from him.

"I will in no way accept a pardon for the actions I have taken. I deserve to be punished." He told everyone sternly.

"Steve are you sure?" Robot Man asked, Mento turned to his robotic comrade and nodded. Robin made a move to go and officially arrest the Doom Patrol leader when a bandaged hand barred his path.

"We'll take him. He was Doom Patrol, it's only fitting he be taken in by us." Negative Man stated. Robin looked at him for a moment and slowly nodded. Letting the two Doom Patrol members bind their leader in restraints and read him his Miranda Rights. As they began to escort him away, Mento spoke once again.

"Garfield." He said, grabbing Beast Boy's attention at his real name. Mento had his back to him at first, but turned so he could look his adopted son in the eye. "I made a rash decision out of selfishness that cost us both dearly. I know an apology will never be enough for what I've done. All that I can hope for is your forgiveness."

Beast Boy realized that Mento was asking him to forgive him. As he looked in his adopted father's eyes he didn't see the stern leader of the Doom Patrol. Instead, he saw a broken man, one that seemed to have lost his reason to go on living. For a moment, Beast Boy wondered if he would ever find someone special the way Steve found Rita, only to lose her later on in life. The green teenager wondered if that would break him as well. Then the moment passed, anything else and he would have probably been able to forgive him. But he had murdered Rita, Elasti-Girl, his adopted mother and at one time a fellow team member. You weren't supposed to murder one of your own.

"I'm sorry Steve, I can't forgive you. Not right now at least." Beast Boy said grimly, "Maybe some day I will, but not today." The Doom Patrol leader's head drooped at this.

"I understand." Was all he said as his fellow Doom Patrol members escorted him away in handcuffs.


	5. Epilogue

**A/N: Thanks to Sarah and Sergeant Daniel for the reviews.**

**This is the conclusion to 'Desperate Decisions' I have wrote the story I intended to write and I thank you all for reading it. Now this doesn't mean that there won't be another story to continue from where this one leaves off. Right now though, I don't have the right inspiration, plus there are other writing projects of mine that I need to attend to. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will try not to leave you all hanging for too long before writing another one.**

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><p>Robin sat at his desk, his fingers dancing furiously over the keyboard. The Boy Wonder's eyes were glued to the monitor, quickly searching through the data that was on his screen. He let out a frustrated sigh as he didn't quite find what he was looking for.<p>

Ten days had passed since Mento was taken to prison. Beast Boy, Negative Man and Robot Man tried to hold a small funeral for Elasti-Girl shortly afterwards. Surprisingly, many honorary Titans attended, along with the original five Titans and the remaining Doom Patrol members. Robin could tell that the changeling was deeply touched by the gesture. Rita Farr was then buried in a cemetary in Midway City. Those closest to her knew that this was the place she considered home.

Mento was taken to some unspecified prison. Neither Robot Man nor Negative Man told him what prison or where it was located. They merely assured him that it was secure. The Boy Wonder didn't like it, but Beast Boy seemed to believe they knew what they were doing.

Robin leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. For everyone else it was over, Elasti-Girl was bitten by an animal infected with Sakutia, contracted the virus and was "Mercifully murdered" by Mento. The Doom Patrol Leader was caught and jailed, case closed. However, something was still bothering him. The detective in him wouldn't let this rest. All the previous cases of people contracting Sakutia, including Beast Boy, occured in Africa. So why was Elasti-Girl infected on the outskirts of a Ukrainian city?

If that wasn't enough, there were no further incidents with the deadly virus in Ukraine. You would think a green animal of any sort attacking people would draw attention. Yet there were no local authority reports, articles from the press, or sightings from citizens. A dangerous animal like that? no way it could be kept secret!

The Boy Wonder's eyes widened beneath his mask in a sudden realization. What if the animal wasn't wild? What if someone managed to domesticate it? What if they were using it to take out certain people? It would explain why Rita was the only one who had come into contact with it and no one else. The infected animal's owner didn't want anyone else to get the virus. Now, with the Doom Patrol leader incarcerated, one dead, and the other two going their separate ways. Beast Boy's former team was effectively gone.

The Titans leader sat back up in his chair and rested his elbows on the desk. Clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them. Was this person's objective to destroy the Doom Patrol? If it was they had succeeded beautifully. What if they weren't satisfied though? What if they wanted more?

Robin sat long and hard thinking about that.

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><p>"Good morning Cyborg!" Starfire greeted her metal friend as she walked through the automated doors of the common room. Cyborg turned his attention away from the kitchen to smile and wave at her.<p>

"Morning Star! Care for some waffles?" Cyborg offered, the Tamaranian took a seat at the table and smiled.

"Yes with extra mustard please!" She said happily, Cyborg cringed slightly, even after all these years it was still hard getting used to Starfire's unorthodox eating habits. He set aside a plate for his alien friend and continued cooking.

"Any other requests little lady?" The cybernetic man asked, Starfire put her left elbow on her right hand and her left index finger on her chin. She was deep in thought before she responded.

"I would ask you to make some of my glorg, but you don't know how to cultivate the fungus." Starfire said. Cyborg shuddered, suddenly he wasn't as hungry as he was before.

Cyborg finished cooking breakfast and the two Titans sat down to eat. Starfire drenched her waffles in mustard. While Cyborg wolfed down his eggs, bacon and sausage like they were his first food in days.

"How goes the research into an antidote for Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, Cyborg paused long enough to let out a loud burp before replying.

"Well I don't know if antidote would be the right word for it, but I've managed to make something that should at least supress his Beast form temporarily." The metallic man stated, the alien Titan looked at him curiously

"Why not an antidote friend? is Beast Boy's condition unable to be cured?" She asked, Cyborg shook his head.

"I don't know, I thought the last antidote would have done the trick. We all saw how well that turned out. BB's DNA has also changed so the old antidote won't work anymore." the cybernetic Titan explained.

"Changed? how has it changed?" the Tamaranian asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's different. I don't know yet if it's good or bad." Cyborg replied. Starfire gasped.

"Does that mean our friend will never be the same?" She asked, a fearful expression on her face. Cyborg smiled a wide grin.

"No way! The world could end and BB would still be cracking annoying jokes! He just might be changing a little physically that's all!" He reassured his alien friend, who's fearful expression vanished.

"Oh glorious! our home would not be the same without Beast Boy! I should make him something to celebrate his good health!" She exclaimed. Cyborg chuckled.

"Just make sure it's safe for him to eat!" he remarked, but Starfire was already in the kitchen, speaking out loud the ingredients she would need for her meal. Cyborg turned back to his food, his expression turning solemn. Mentally and probably emotionally, Beast Boy would be the same, but physically? The way his DNA was changing, it could start to affect his powers. He didn't need an antidote at this point, he needed to figure out exactly what was going on with his green friend.

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><p>Jump City National Bank, where checks are cashed, accounts are created, money is deposited or withdrawn, and where the occasional robbery takes place. Unfortunately for everyone today, one of those said robberies was happening now. Three men in black ski masks, grey coats, black jeans and brown shoes. Armed with automatic assault rifles. One of the masked men was grabbing as much money as he could from the opened vault, the others were making sure no one was a hero. The unconscious security guard with a bruise on his forehead and the assault rifles were being great deterrents for the citizens trapped in the bank at the moment.<p>

"Hurry it up in there! clock's ticking!" The apparent leader of the group shouted to the masked man collecting the money. They only had about two or three more minutes before things got more complicated. Cops would start setting up a perimeter and worse, the Titans might show up.

"Don't worry boss, almost done." The robber in the vault said, grabbing one last stack of money and throwing it in his bag. Tying it up and lugging it over his shoulder he went to rejoin his comrades in the lobby. "See? All set. Let's blow this joint."

As the leader of the robbers was shouting to the terrified citizens not to do anything stupid while they exited the bank. The third masked man heard a slight buzzing above him, he looked up to see a mosquito hovering above him. The damn thing kept flitting back and forth, the robber was sorely tempted to try and swat it out of the air when he noticed something peculiar about this mosquito.

It was green.

As soon as the third robber processed this information. The green mosquito turned into a green hippo before his eyes. The masked man didn't even have time to shout a warning to his buddies as the green hippo crashed down on all of them. The hippo then morphed back into Beast Boy, who nonchalantly used one of the now very unconscious bank robbers as a makeshift seat. The green Titan pulled out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Don't bother guys, I already dealt with the problem." He said with a cocky smirk. The robber he was sitting on stirred slightly and groaned in pain. The emerald superhero smacked the masked man roughly on the back of the head. "Dude! furniture isn't supposed to make noise!"

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><p>After making sure the police had secured the bank robbers. Beast Boy morphed into an eagle and took the skies. He loved flying, especially when something was on his mind. It was amazing how things never went as intended. The funeral for Rita was supposed to be low-key. Yet, a lot of the honorary Titans showed up. They had attended out of respect for both Beast Boy when he led the assault against the Brotherhood of Evil and for Rita as a Doom Patrol member. The honorary Titans were paying their respects to a superheroine who was part of a legendary team. The Doom Patrol had stopped a good number of the Brotherhood's schemes, saving the world in the process.<p>

The other thing on his mind was the Beast. While initially he had control he eventually lost it. The green Titan was greatly relieved that he didn't hurt any of his friends. Cyborg had fixed up another "Antidote" for him, but they both knew it wasn't enough. He needed to figure out a way to completely control his primal side or he might end up doing something terrible, to either his friends or himself.

Eventually Beast Boy found himself at Jump City Central Park. He landed near a large tree and reverted back to his human form. Leaning against the thick tree trunk, he looked up to the sky. The sun would be setting soon, he should probably head back to the tower before nightfall.

He had only been there for a few minutes when he heard a familiar monotone voice.

"That was pretty reckless." Raven stated simply, standing next to him with her hood down. Beast Boy grinned.

"It was just a couple of bank robbers, figured I would let you guys have some peace and quiet while I handled it." The changeling said. Raven fixed him with a mild glare.

"You should have waited for at least one of us to back you up." She scolded. Beast Boy's eyes widened in mock surprise.

"Aww, were you worried about me? You're such a big softie Raven!" He told her, she rolled her eyes.

"Of course, who else am I going to practice my 'annoyed' look with?" She asked him, Beast Boy rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well you could always see Adonis in jail-ow!" The green Titan yelped as Raven elbowed him in the ribs.

"Very funny." She said sarcastically, Beast Boy just chuckled and put his hands behind his head. Once more he leaned against the tree.

"You know me, always got a joke." He proclaimed proudly.

"Yes, it's a shame that ninety percent of them are bad." she replied.

"True, but that makes the ones that are good all the better!" He countered, beaming. The dark girl shook her head, but the changeling noticed the small smile on her face. They lapsed into comfortable silence for awhile after that before Raven finally broke it.

"So have you come to terms with everything?" She asked tentatively. Back when they were in his mind, Beast Boy was angry and confused, but now he seemed at ease, at peace. The changeling smiled gently.

"Yeah I think I'm ready to move on from this. Rita wouldn't want me to dwell on it." He said softly. "I'm really lucky to have friends like you Raven, thank you, for everything." Raven's response was to wrap her arms around his neck.

"We are always here for you Gar, remember that." She whispered in his ear before pecking him on the cheek. She swiftly released him, turned on her heel and started to walk away, trying to avoid looking at Beast Boy's face which was shocked. "We should head home, it's getting dark." She stated, her voice back to it's normal monotone. The green Titan let out a short chuckle and smiled.

"Yeah I guess you're right." He said in agreement, following her. The dark Titan threw her hood back up over her face.

"By the way, not a word of that to anyone." She said, Beast Boy threw her a mock confused look.

"Of what?" he asked teasingly. Raven smirked.

"Exactly." she stated and took to the sky. Beast Boy chuckled to himself at his dark friend's behavior then morphed into a bird and joined her in the sky. Feeling a lot lighter than he had just a few days ago.


End file.
